A Strand of Memories
by NenePasciele
Summary: Semi-AU. Sawada Tsunayoshi is a normal boy living in Namimori, or at least as normal as he'd like to believe living in this century... the truth is that he's the reincarnation of a princess - or so his dreams tell him. But if he was really reincarnated, then why is he here? How did he get here? And what are Dying Will Flames? The more memories he gains, the more questions he has...
**Chiwassu Minna-san~~~~
** **And I'm sorry that I haven't been around for sooo long  
** **And I know I'm a bad bad person for doing this but this plot bunny has been with me for almost 3 years now  
** **So I'm gonna give it life and set it free into the world**

 **Now please forgive me for the stories that I haven't updated in about a year or two  
** **But as I said before I'm busy with church commitments and I'm job hunting now~~~ yayy  
** **I graduated! Whooohoooo partaaaaayyy~~~ jk  
** **But I seriously did though  
** **So pleeeeaaase forgive me~~~**

 **Now without further ado, here's my plot bunny story  
** **Based on Bokura no Kiseki (manga) great story, you should read it  
** **And for those who've read it already or are still doing so, then you'll have a general idea of what this story will be like  
** **I'll try my best to deviate from the canon storylines of both stories but I'll be taking a lot of elements from BnK~~**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own KHR or BnK and I love both stories~~~ please support them hehe  
** **And a fair warning: I may not update this for a reeeaaaallly long time  
** **Sorry for the inconvenience~**

Story Summary:

Sawada 'Tsuna' Tsunayoshi is a normal boy living in Namimori, or as normal as he thinks he is living in this century. The truth is that he believes that he is the reincarnation of a princess... at least that's what his early memories told him. He would sometimes dream or have visions of what had happened in what he believed was his past life and this was what led him to believe that he really was reincarnated to the present him.

However, he was ridiculed for saying that he was a princess in his past life and this eventually led to his bullying – but it was those events that led him to unlocking secrets, proving to himself that his dreams were once a reality; as well as unlocking memories which showed him the reason why he was reincarnated in the first place. But the more memories he gains, the more questions he has about what happened in his past life...

* * *

Chapter 1: Recollection

A new year, a new school, cherry blossoms blowing in the breeze and turning the world pink... all of this to Sawada Tsunayoshi meant a clean slate, a fresh start and hopefully no one knowing or remembering who he was in elementary school. He stood outside of the school gate and looked at the large school with new and old students walking in through the gates that he stood in front of. He stood still and observed each person that walked past him and they didn't pay him any attention whatsoever. He grinned at this and was about to join the sea of students until someone had called out to him.

"Tsuna-kun~!" Not expecting anyone to talk to him, let alone greet him by name, his eyes widened and looked around to find the source of the voice who called out to him and surprisingly, he found Sasagawa Kyoko waving towards him alongside her best friend, Kurokawa Hana, who also gave him a small, unwilling wave. Tsuna returned with a wave and a shy smile as he waited for them to catch up to him.

"Ah Sasagawa-san, Kurokawa-san, you both entered Namimori-chuu as well?" Tsuna smiled though on the inside he was panicking a little, and also mentally slapped himself for asking a stupid question as Namimori was a chain type of school. So naturally, students from the elementary school would continue on into the middle school.

"Of course Sawada, don't ask stupid questions that you already know the answer to." Hana snapped at him, though he kind of expected it since Kurokawa was an intelligent girl.

"Mou~ Tsuna-kun... you always call me Sasagawa-san when I tell you to call me Kyoko, right?" The orange haired girl scolded playfully, but Tsuna knew that she was serious with her words.

"R-right, sorry K-Kyoko...san." He muttered, unused to being on a first name basis with others. Kyoko gave him a stern look again before he changed the honorific. "Kyoko-chan." He smiled, hoping that that would ease her. She then smiled brightly again and then looked towards Hana.

"What about Hana-chan?" Kyoko smiled innocently.

"Eh?!" Tsuna was caught off guard by that.

"Oi, Kyoko, you can't just tell Sawada to do that without my permission." The black haired girl crossed her arms at her best friend.

"But you've known each other for so long~ why can't you two just call each other by your first names?" The bubbly girl continued to justify.

"You can't always make things happen the way you want them to. That's what you call life." She said as she started to walk inside without them. "Besides, I don't wanna be on a first name basis with a guy who used to say that he was a princess." She teased, smirking at the boy who looked at her horrified.

"K-Kurokawa-san! Please don't m-mention that here." Tsuna pleaded her.

"Relax, it was just a small joke." She shrugged and continued inside. She caught a glimpse of Tsuna's expression before sighing to herself. "Alright, if it bugs you that much, then I won't bring it up again." The brunette then visibly relaxed, releasing the breath that he didn't know he held. "Besides, I don't want a repeat of what happened in elementary so you better stick up for yourself or we won't stay quiet." She threatened. Tsuna nodded violently and thanked the girl.

"So which homeroom class are you two in?" Tsuna asked the girls, changing the subject as they changed their shoes in the foyer.

"1-A." Kyoko answered.

"Same here." Hana agreed.

"Wow, what a coincidence. We're all in the same class again." Tsuna said, though he was a little worried about this development. This reminded him of the first time he had a vision in class and sudden realized that his dreams weren't just figments of his imagination.

~ Flashback ~

 _The first time Tsuna had had one of his 'dreams' was when he was about 5, though he never really took them too seriously until he was about 6 when he realized and understood more things. Tsuna had to admit that he did have a big imagination but his dreams were too real and occurred too often for them to just be dreams. He hadn't ever told anyone about them except for maybe his mother, Sawada Nana, who liked hearing his 'stories'. She loved hearing his story about a princess who was taken away and hidden for her own safety when she was young until she reached the age of sixteen when she could officially take over the kingdom._

" _My~, my Tsu-kun will be a great storyteller when he grows up." Nana would tell her son before she continued chopping vegetables._

" _Story..." Tsuna pondered on the word. From the way he was describing what he saw, he realized that he spoke as though it had all happened to him and that he was just retelling what he experienced._

' _Right, it was a dream that I had... but why did it feel so real?' Tsuna thought to himself._

 _The details were fuzzy and there were many holes in the story but it wasn't until the brunette noticed the continuity of his dreams and how his age corresponded with the girl's age in his dreams. He even had the same birthday as her as he dreamed of her parents throwing the girl, who he later found out was named Gioia (pron: Joy-ah). Tsuna thought that his mind was playing tricks on him but there were too many things that were too similar to be coincidental._

 _One day, Tsuna thought it was just going to be an ordinary day at school with nothing happening, and teachers picking on kids they don't like as usual. He really thought it was unfair of them to pick on people just because you don't like a certain thing they do or say, but because he was only 6, he couldn't really do anything about it. Tsuna was very observant for his age and noticed things that others wouldn't normally, but he guessed that it was because of his dreams. It was like they were taking over what he initially thought of as normal and replaced it with what people in his dream's time thought of as normal. It really confused him at first, questioning why kids do certain things in certain situations but he observed them carefully in order to function in a manner that others would consider 'normal'._

 _He got really good at mimicking others but that didn't mean he threw away the traditions and beliefs of Gioia and her people. In fact, it was those beliefs that he learned from her that made him realize that he may actually not be Sawada Tsunayoshi but was actually Gioia._

 _That day really did start off ordinary but suddenly, in the middle of class during their free play time, Tsuna felt a sudden spike of pain and gripped his head in an attempt to ease it. Some of his classmates who were with him at the time looked at him in worry._

" _Tsuna, you alright?"_

" _What happened?"_

" _What's wrong with Sawada?"_

" _Should we bring him to the nurse?"_

 _Tsuna couldn't hear any of them however as the pounding in his head just muddled their voices. He was forced to shut his eyes due to the pain, then suddenly, he saw something playing in his mind, similar to watching a movie that was exclusively for his eyes only._

' _Is this in Sicily?' Thought Tsuna to himself as he watched the events unfold. Everything in the vision looked familiar, but what was different this time was that he couldn't see Gioia, but he could still hear her voice._

"So that's called a what again?" _Gioia asked though Tsuna was still having trouble pinpointing where the young girl could be. He tried to look around but something was inhibiting him from moving. Tsuna then heard the man who was in front of him chuckle. The boy looked at him since he was the only thing that was in his line of vision, and he realized that this person was a third class Commander who had often looked after Gioia._

"As curious as ever young miss." _The man chuckled and ruffled Tsuna's hair._

' _Wha... he's talking to Gioia but he spoke as though he were talking to me...' Tsuna was dumbfounded by this turn of events. But before Tsuna could ponder further, Gioia's voice cut him off._

"Geez, Signor Renato you messed up my hair." _The young girl pouted at the older man and attempted to fix the mess. Tsuna felt his head tilt down and his arms go up to fix it._

"My apologies young princess but I'm sure you'll learn about what this is in due time." _The man smiled at the girl and showed off a yellow flame that he had in his hands. If Tsuna looked a bit closer he could see that the source of the flame flowed from a ring on the man's hand. He felt just as amazed as the girl sounded and stood there mesmerized by the flame that danced in the man's palm._

"I already learned about it from Talbot but I forgot..." _Gioia batted her eyes at the man._

"Well then I guess I'll have to give you a retest." _The man's eyes glinted evilly and Gioia felt a shiver down her spine._

"N-No, that's not necessary... just a refresher is good enough." _She pleaded the man who was notorious for his devilish tutoring. The man just chuckled at his young charge and knelt down beside her._

"Well then, these are called Dying Will Flames and can be accessed more easily through these rings." _The girl nodded as she listened intently._ "These flames are a part of every single person and some may even say that these are an output of our own soul. There are also 7 most known types of flames and they are the symbol of our kingdom. It used to be unique only to this kingdom but others have studied them and turned them into an object of war, they now fuel our weapons and we use them to defend ourselves."

"That's horrible, why would someone turn something so beautiful into something as ugly as a weapon."

"That's what humans are, princess. We take something that has extraordinary power and turn it into something that can give ourselves more power." _Renato sighed at the truth._

"Why can't everyone just live in peace with each other and not fight?" _The man just chuckled at her naivety._

"If only everyone had your mindset, young Gioia, then I think the world would be a better place. But you know, there was this myth that came alongside these Dying Will Flames." _The girl nodded at him to continue._ "There's a myth where Dying Will Flames were not to exist because it would disrupt the balance of power between humans, but by chance, there was a man who accidentally tapped into it and was deemed favoured by Higher Beings. But as these Higher Beings have feared, other humans were overcome by jealousy and forced themselves to output their spirit energy, killing themselves. The man looked at his fellow humans on the ground and felt despair at the unnecessary death and wept. The Higher Beings, who looked at the man in pity, decided that if one is killed by Dying Will Flames, then, as a means to repent, they will be reincarnated into another life and won't have any recollection of their past life."

"What about people who don't die because of Dying Will Flames?" _Gioia asked._

"Then they'll be able to go to heaven and live in peace there forever." _The man smiled at her._

"But then why did those Higher Beings make Dying Will Flames if they don't want people to die from them?"

"They created them to give things life, it's what keeps us alive and makes us who we are. But it was an accident that these flames were discovered, so for them to repent, they made it so that people would get reincarnated in order to make up for their lost time. Of course this is all according to a myth that was passed down from generation to generation." _Renato explained._

"So does that mean even I can use them?" _Gioia looked hopeful but the man didn't look very pleased with the question._

"I don't think you'll want to have someone else's blood on your hands, young one. What they're teaching you right now is for self defense but that should be all that you should know. You're a smart child and I don't want you to become involved in something that could jeopardize your future." _Renato looked at the child sternly._ "I want you to promise me that no matter what, you won't kill anyone with Dying Will Flames."

"Then I want you to promise the same thing." _The young girl looked at him sternly in return. He smiled a soft smile and nodded._

 _Tsuna suddenly snapped out of his daze and looked at his surroundings and didn't expect to see so many kids around him. Then he remembered that he was back in his classroom. "Sawada, you alright?" Some of them looked at him, looking for something wrong with him._

" _Y-Yeah..." He shook out his thoughts and suddenly remembered his vision._

' _What was that? Was I looking from Gioia's perspective…? Was I her? Commander Renato said something about – reincarnation. If I'm remember things that happened to Gioia, does that mean she really existed... and that I was reincarnated? Did I die by Dying Will Flames? But Renato-san said that we shouldn't remember our past life... why am I getting her memories then?'_

" _Oi Sawada are you really alright? Did that headache do something to your brain?" Some of the boys gathered around him._

" _I was a princess in my past life." Tsuna muttered partly to himself. Then suddenly the roar of laughter brought him out of his daze. He looked around in surprise. "Did I say something weird?" He looked at them seriously._

" _What are you talking about?!" They laughed._

" _No sane person would say they were a princess!"_

" _You must be delusional!"_

" _Did that headache mess up your brain?!"_

 _Tsuna was really confused by all of their responses. "Is reincarnation really something you can't believe in?"_

" _Are you living in a fairy tale?!"_

" _That stuff only happens in stories!" They mocked him. Even some of the girls started joining in._

" _Hey Sawada, wanna come over later and we can talk about you being a princess?"_

" _You think I was a prince?" They laughed._

 _Suddenly the teacher came in and everyone scattered and returned to their places. This was where the teasing and bullying started. Eventually he even earned the spiteful nickname of Dame-Tsuna and it continued on throughout his elementary days. And what made it worse was that the teachers didn't even care or stopped it, some had even joined in on the ridiculing, doing to him what he despised them doing to others which was pick on the ones they hated; they had added him to the list of students that were tormented just because other kids made fun of him and sometimes, he would be the only one that got targeted much to the relief of the other targets._

 _Of course those other ridiculed students and the rest, who didn't enjoy the bullying, didn't like what happened to him but as Tsuna said before, what could they do since they were only 6, then 7, then 8... and if they got involved then there was a risk of them becoming targets as well. Tsuna couldn't blame them since he used to be one of them but there were also days when it went too far... sometimes he'd get chased, others times he'd get pranked, and when his opposers were feeling bold, he'd get hit or even beaten._

 _There was one particular day he remembered very clearly and it was the day he got cornered in the bathroom by three sixth graders in his second last year of elementary. He ran away from them when he knew that things were going to take a turn for the worst but made a bad move when he ran into the washroom instead of out the front doors._

" _Hehe, is Dame-Tsuna scared?" They mocked him as they backed him to the wall._

" _Does the princess wanna go home?" One pushed him back causing him to fall to the ground. Tsuna looked up at them but instead of the fear that they expected, there was defiance in his eyes. From all his years of watching Gioia and seeing her deal with things in her own life, something that he learned from her was to never back down when faced with opposition._

" _What are you staring at? Just because you think you're royalty in a past life, you think you're better than us?" They snarled at him, one of them kicking him towards the stalls. Tsuna blocked but still skidded sideways. He then glances back up towards them but they noticed a difference in the way he gazed at them, it was as if he could see right through them._

" _Still think you're high and mighty?" They were now a bit wary of him._

" _W-What? Got something to say Dame-Tsuna?!" They challenged him. Tsuna got up slowly and stared at them with orange eyes._

" _I don't think I'm better than you because of who I was in a past life... it's because I don't pick on people weaker than me." He told them and took a step forward. They backed away as a reflex but one of them regained their backbone and tried to tell him off._

" _O-Oh yeah?! Well I'll put you back in your place!" He took out a metal bar he hid in his sleeve and ran to attack the small brunette despite his friends telling him to quit it and yelling that it was a bad idea. He ignored their warnings and let his anger get the best of him. Tsuna didn't seem to be fazed by it one bit and didn't even flinch or make a move to dodge. He just brought his fisted right hand towards his left shoulder before swinging his arm out in front of him right before the older boy could hit him with the bar. As he did that, a bright orange flame came out of his palm and fanned across the room. The boys ducked, surprised by the flame, while the one before the brunette froze as he witnessed his bar getting cut in half. The bathroom seemed to shake as the air became denser, the lights flickered before cutting out, the taps burst spilling water everywhere, and the mirrors shattered, leaving it cracked on the walls._

 _Tsuna then suddenly came back to himself and fell back, exhausted. He was surprised at what he did just now as he didn't feel like he was himself just then. He stared at his hands as he remembered what just appeared out from them, then he looked towards the boys who were frozen in fear. They had no idea what had just happened but they ran out of the bathroom, the one standing in front of Tsuna followed, dropping the split metal bar._

 _Tsuna was now alone in the bathroom and he stared at his hands, trying to recollect his thoughts. "Wh-What w-was that j-just now?" He said to himself, his hands started to tremble. "W-Were those r-really D-Dying Will Fl..ames?" He questioned himself still not believing what just happened._

" _It was like I wasn't the one controlling myself." Tsuna continued to sit there as water continued rushing from the taps to the floor. He then remembered something from Gioia's memories about these Dying Will Flames having the power to heal and – to destroy._

 _This revelation made Tsuna's eyes widen as he realized something dire._

 _._

 _._

 _._

" _I could've killed them."_

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _He realized this as he looked at the destruction of the bathroom. He then got up and ran from the place and out of the school, he ran as far as he could go without stopping. He ran until he couldn't run anymore and eventually, he ended up at a park. He started to walk as he tried to catch his breath. 'Why am I here? Why is this happening?' He questioned himself as the lights started to flicker on. 'Does this really mean that those dreams are really Gioia's memories?'_

 _Since his first time having a vision back when he was six, he started to question whether the things that he's seen were actually a daydream or a hallucination because of the mockery that he was facing. He questioned whether he really was reincarnated or if he just had an overactive imagination. But what had happened today made him throw away all of those questions and doubts, because no doubt about it, what he witnessed today were actual Dying Will Flames and he made them without the help of a ring or weapon channeling the flames, he just did them based on pure feeling alone. However, at the same time, it felt like it was him yet it wasn't... it was like something came over him and made him move._

 _Tsuna then shook those thoughts out of his head and decided to stop worrying. One thing that was certain was that he was the reincarnation of Princess Gioia, and whatever memories came to him didn't matter anymore because right now, he wasn't a princess, but a regular boy named Sawada Tsunayoshi. Instead of worrying about the past, he should just think of living in the now and worry about things that other kids in this day worry about... like school, homework, friends, family, and just have fun living this new life he was given. Of course he wouldn't forget about the past completely as it was still a part of who he was, but he wouldn't let it rule his life in this time frame. In fact, all the things that were thought to be important in that age aren't important here like honour, nobility, familial power..._

' _So now, instead of being Princess Gioia, I'll continue on being Sawada Tsunayoshi.' Tsuna vowed to himself, though he also thought that it would be in his best interest to control his flames as it would be safer for himself and those around him._

 _~ End Flashback ~_

Of course, now that Tsuna's 12, turning 13 later this year, he learned more about Gioia's past and even found out that Gioia wasn't even who he thought she was after all these years. He's still curious about why he has these memories and what purpose they serve, but he knows that he has more important things to do than to ponder up crazy theories about why this is happening to him.

Tsuna just sighs as he walks into class following Kyoko and Hana. He knows that Namimori-chuu still has some of his old classmates and sempais from his old elementary school because Namimori was a chain school but he really tried his hardest to reinvent himself back into the person he was before his first vision in first grade. It had worked for the most part and many kids had accepted him again but there are some who would just never let him live down what he said back then. It was also hard to get rid of the nickname, Dame-Tsuna, especially because he was pretty average at anything sports related or anything that involved movement, but his academic scores were a slightly different story. It wasn't that he didn't understand, but it was just that he had better things to do than to waste his time on homework and studying. For instance, training his body so that he'd be able to better control his Dying Will Flames so that they don't go out of control again.

When it came to Dying Will Flames, he learned everything he knew from Gioia's memories. Even though she was instructed by Commander Renato to only use the self defense techniques that she's been taught, she went behind their backs and learned more offensive techniques on her own and even learned how to power weapons by watching the knights. Of course she was later discovered and scolded for attempting something so dangerous, but we also quickly forgiven and then was taught properly by the commander who really was a horrible sadistic tutor as the rumours said. But at least she learned how to control her flames, and mastered them on her own time, creating new techniques and eventually surpassing the expectations of her tutor.

Back to school related subjects, the brunette did pretty well on tests but that only counts for parts of his grade, although those tests were what kept him from failing after all these years.

Today wasn't out of the ordinary, school was normal and his classmates were the same, though even if it was still the first day, some never failed to mention his stupid nickname. It irritated him to no end but he figured that there was a reason for everything in life, so he dealt with it. It was only those who disliked him that used it anyways.

The final bell then rang and everyone was released from the learning prison. Tsuna also gave a sigh of relief as he walked out of the building. "Haah~ another day over." He said to himself, stretching and then looked at the cloudless blue sky. It calmed him by just looking at it for some reason and he gave a small smile.

"See you tomorrow Tsuna-kun." Kyoko called out to him and waved goodbye. Hana also gave him a nod of acknowledgement.

"A-Ah, yeah, see you tomorrow." He waved back before departing from the school and heading home. 'It's so peaceful here in this era.' The brunette thought to himself as he admired the cherry blossoms. His mind then drifted towards the tough times of Gioia and her people. She had to go through so many things since the beginning of her life till now, or at least, until this point in time in the memories Tsuna regained. But she even lived a lie just to protect herself and her family, and that included lying to her closest friends as well who didn't take it so well when it was revealed to them just what she had been hiding.

Tsuna continued to ponder on this until he reached his house. He opened the door and could smell his mother's cooking immediately. "Okaa-san, tadaima!" He called out into the house but what greeted him upon entering wasn't what he expected at from a typical ordinary day.

"Ciaossu~"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 **Yayy done…  
** **Sorry if the story seems a bit choppy, I haven't written in a long time  
** **So I'm a bit rusty hehehe**

 **But still, hope you enjoyed it… there may be some continuity errors because this was an on spot thing  
** **I didn't make any notes or plans for this yet so I have no idea where this story is going  
** **I just wanted to get it out there and see what you guys think of it**

 **If you guys have any comments, suggestions, or anything else just review or pm me~~  
** **Please forgive any mistakes I may have made  
** **And pleaaase pleaaase tell me what you guys think (~^ 0^)~  
** **Thanks~~~  
** **Owari-desuuuu~~~**

Uploaded: 22/03/2016


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